Balarabe Ilelah, the Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), has completed preparations to crack down on broadcasting organizations seen to be anti-government, under the cover of their inability to pay licensing payments, according to information obtained by SaharaReporters.
Ilelah has reportedly instructed a covert task force to develop a list of media organizations whose content and coverage are critical of Muhammadu Buhari's administration, according to inside sources.
They also stated that an in-house team has been entrusted with collating NBC's licensees' overdue cash commitments.
In November, NBC gave its licensees until December 20, 2021, to settle their bills or face fines, including closure.
"We have been asked to identify radio and television stations that owe licensing and operating fees; this is relatively common because these organizations are required to pay these amounts as part of the terms of their licenses." One of the agency's informants stated, "That is not something hazardous."
"However, we have learned that the DG has placed an order for an outside list." It's a list of stations that criticize the government, air negative programming, or host anti-government panelists on their shows.
"We don't know who put this list together, but we do know it was outsourced." It's something that could have been done within with our monitoring, but the DG had to outsource it for whatever reason."
Another employee voiced reservations about the plan's implications for the organization's credibility, claiming that if adopted, it would jeopardize the commission's capacity to collect money due by media companies in the future.
"Shutting down broadcasting houses due to unpaid license and operating costs would very certainly be perceived as a crackdown on these enterprises," he added. Imagine how angry Nigerians and the rest of the world will be if it is discovered that the radio and television stations being shut down are those who have been critical of the administration.
"Any organization that refuses to pay its fees in the future will just begin opposing the government of the day, and it will be exempt from paying." If the DG will simply turn inwards and toward the cadre of staff members who have institutional memory, the Commission will be saved from looming disgrace."
Human rights groups and non-governmental organizations have slammed the proposed use of unpaid fees as a justification for closing down anti-government media organizations, claiming that it reflects an uptick in attacks on the free press in Nigeria.
Dapo Olorunyomi, a veteran media practitioner and publisher of Premium Times, advocated for the repeal of the 6th NBC Code Amendments last month, on which Ilelah is said to be basing his planned crackdown on the media.
The tirades against the media from President Buhari's sitting government, according to Olorunyomi, are far worse than what was endured during the brutal military government, which, once again, featured Buhari prominently, especially with the notoriety of Decree 4 of 1984, which left a lasting impression on the media as well as the rest of the citizens.
